For those homeowners who don't
want to panel their walls, select a paint
color that creates the atmosphere you want.
Paint the room yourself or hire a professional.

Lighting
Lighting is very important for a media entertainment
room in your home. Options range from recessed
mood lighting, where crown molding meets the
ceiling at a 45-degree angle and drops down
a bit so the lights can be hidden. The lights
shine toward the ceiling. Another choice is
lights that shine on the floor and, of course,
wall sconces can set the tone for a relaxing,
enjoyable evening at home. "Don't worry
about the room being too dark, especially
if the room is primarily used for watching
movies. Your purpose is to prevent any glare
on the screen," Sopata says. "Dimmer
switches need to be placed on all the lighting
in the room. You must be able to see the aisle
when you get up." These choices work
in both traditional and contemporary homes,
she says.

One of the newest things is
preset lighting systems that can create lighting
moods at the touch of a button. Press "movie"
and the lights dim to your pre-determined
level. Press "party" and the lighting
adjusts to another preset level. A preset
system allows the homeowner to avoid having
five or six switches on the wall. Instead,
there is one wall switch with programmed buttons.

Components
Audio speakers can stick out like a sore thumb. Sopata recommends hiding speakers in your walls or in the space behind false columns, which work best in traditional homes. Speakers are now sophisticated enough to recess into walls and can be painted to match the color of your walls.

Some of them can be installed
and plastered over so you don't even see a
grill, says Goff. Always consider buying a
subwoofer, which creates the lower-register
sounds, then a center speaker with two more
at the front and then four more -- two in
the middle and two at the rear of the room.
"This is the gold standard. We always
work to hide them and integrate them into
the cabinet work," Goff says.

Sopata notes that most homeowners
hide components in wall cabinets. However,
with some newer systems, components can even
be placed in another room, a control room
the size of a closet for all visual and audio
entertainment equipment.